St. Cloud, MN- August 11, 2016. On the first game of a four game road trip, the Madison Mallards (20-13, 43-26) fell by a final score of 5-3 to the St. Cloud Rox (22-11, 46-22) on Thursday night.
With Mike Byrne (Florida) on the mound for the Mallards, the Rox jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Despite allowing two runs, Byrne would finish the inning with two strikeouts as he fooled the Rox batters with his changeup.
Zach Jarrett (UNC-Charlotte) would lead the second inning off with a blast to left field. It was Jarrett’s ninth home run of the season, and it cut the Rox lead in half.
After a rough first inning, Byrne would settle down on the mound as he pitched three scoreless innings after the first. Byrne would finish after four innings on the mound, as he tallied six strikeouts in his four innings of work.
Matt McCann (Fairleigh Dickinson) would lead the top of the fourth inning off with a single to right field as the Mallards put the tying run aboard. McCann then wasted no time in stealing second, and was able to advance to third as the throw from the Rox catcher went into centerfield. Nelson Maldonado (Florida) would follow the stolen base with an RBI groundout to third, as the Mallards evened the score at two.
The teams would play a scoreless fifth, as things remained tied into the sixth inning at Joe Faber Field. Maldonado walked with one out in the inning, and made his way all the way to third as the Mallards put the go-ahead run in scoring position. Cameron Frost (Washington St.) would rip a fastball to deep center field that was caught by the Rox centerfielder, but was deep enough to score Maldonado from third to give the Mallards their first lead.
St. Cloud would tie the game in the bottom of the inning, as they answered with a run of their own. The game remained tied all the way into the eighth inning, before the Rox plated two runs to take a 5-3 lead. Despite their best efforts, the Mallards were unable to get a run in the final frame, as they fell by a final score of 5-3.
The Mallards will be back in action tomorrow night as they take on the St. Cloud Rox at Joe Faber Field at 7:05 PM.
Despite the loss, the Madison Mallards have officially clinched a Northwoods League home playoff game on Monday, August 15th. The opponent of the matchup is yet to be determined. First pitch of the game is scheduled for 7:05 PM.
The Madison Mallards are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Playing its 23rd season of summer collegiate baseball, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 18 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, more than 150 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Lucas Duda (NYM) and Ben Zobrist (CHC). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.mallardsbaseball.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store and set the Mallards as your favorite team.
